Recreational Vehicle motor homes and camping trailers typically have an entrance with a primary door and a screen door which can be opened together or independently of one another. The main door provides security and safety for occupants, while the lightweight screen door provides airflow and restricts insects from entering the RV or trailer. Both doors are pivotally hinged for movement between open and closed positions relative to the entrance opening of the RV or trailer. The screen door can be attached to the main door so that the doors move together, or alternatively, can be detached from the main door so that the main door can be held open while the screen door is held closed.
In this conventional dual door assembly, the main door has an exterior handle for opening the door from outside the RV and an interior handle for opening the door from inside the RV. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,927,773 and 6,409,234 which are owned by the assignee, discloses a paddle operated latch mechanism for the main RV doors. However, when the main door is closed, the screen door covers the inside handle of the main door, with access to the inside handle being provided by a sliding panel on the screen door. The screen door typically has a separate handle on the outside of the screen door for releasing the screen door latch. The screen door handle is normally accessed from the inside of the door by opening the sliding panel on the screen door and reaching through the screen door. U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,932 discloses an RV screen door with a handle on the inside of the door.
Also on existing systems, a person inside the RV or trailer must slide the screen door panel to lock/unlock the deadbolt of the door because the lock knob is on the inside handle assembly of the main door.
The sliding screen door panel creates complexity, difficulty, and awkwardness in reaching the inside handle of the main door and the screen door handle from inside the RV or trailer. Also, the requirement for two separate handles on the main door and the screen door adds additional costs to the RV or trailer.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved handle assembly for a dual door assembly of an RV or trailer.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of an integrated handle assembly for the main and screen doors of an RV or trailer.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of an integrated handle assembly for an RV main door and screen door which eliminates the sliding panel on the screen door.
Still another objective of the present invention is the provision of a handle assembly for the main and screen doors of an RV or trailer which eliminates the need to reach through the screen door to open the main door from inside the RV or trailer.
Yet another objective of the present invention is an RV or trailer handle assembly which eliminates the need to reach through the screen door to lock/unlock the deadbolt in the main door from inside the RV or trailer.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of an integrated handle assembly for the main and screen doors of an RV and trailer wherein the handle assembly has an exterior handle for opening both the main door and the screen door from outside the RV or trailer when both doors are shut, an interior handle for opening both doors from inside the RV or trailer when both doors are shut and for opening the screen door from inside the RV or trailer when the main door is open and the screen door is shut, and an intermediate handle for opening the screen door from outside the RV when the main door is open and the screen door is shut.
Yet another objective of the present invention is the provision of an integrated handle assembly with a main door and screen door of an RV or trailer which is economical to manufacture, and durable and safe in use.
These and other objectives will become apparent from the following description of the invention.